Japanese Maa as a Meta-Interactional Stance Marker Displaying Orientation to Problematicity in Interaction

Abstract

This article analyzes the Japanese filler-like token, maa, in various sequential positions to identify what interactional concerns are being contextualized by the use of this elusive token. We argue that maa essentially indicates the speaker’s stance that the speakers are oriented to some problem in the ongoing interaction and are implementing the maa-marked action as the result of having dealt with that problem. Maa is thus a meta-interactional stance marker to index that the speaker is objectifying a certain aspect of the ongoing interaction as problematic and that the subsequent talk should be heard as an outcome of dealing with that issue.